If you browse the Google Play Store on a desktop browser, you’ll notice an “Install on Windows” button scattered around the website. This feature is seldom advertised, but it is part of Google’s initiative to bring Android games to your Windows computer.
It’s understandable to be skeptical, as the Play Store library is meager fare for people who have the power of AAA PC games at their fingertips. Nevertheless, the Google Play Games app for Windows has been quietly improving in scope and quality over the past few years. While it has plenty of teething issues to work out, Google could eventually offer a robust library of cross-platform games on PC.
What is Google Play Games for Windows?
Android games for your Windows computer
Google launched Google Play Games for Windows in beta in November 2022. At launch, it offered a limited selection of microtransaction-heavy free-to-play games, none of which we would recommend you play. What is notable about these games is that they aren’t ports, they’re Android apps optimized for a mouse and keyboard.
Google Play Games for Windows’ unique selling point is that it syncs up with your Google account. You can continue your progress between your phone and computer, rack up Play Store achievements, access Play Pass content, and use your Play Store payment methods.
Google Play Games for Windows is still in beta, and there is no news on a full release date.
As of 2024, the app also supports native Windows games. This theoretically could let the launcher compete with Steam, but considering its dominance over the PC market, we doubt this will ever happen. What is far more likely is that PC gamers use the Google Play Games app alongside Steam when they sit down to continue their progress on their favorite mobile games.
What titles does Google Play Games for PC offer?
A snapshot of the Play Store
The Google Play Games for Windows beta currently offers over 300 games. Most of these are free-to-play junk, but in that sense, it’s just like the Play Store. But amongst the trash, there are a few gems that indicate the app is well on its way to offering a robust library. Here are some of the titles that stood out to me when browsing the app:
- Plague Inc.
- Unciv.
- Mindustry.
- Genshin Impact.
- Grimvalor.
- Alto’s Odyssey.
- Asphalt Legends.
- Kingdom Rush.
This is a fraction of the games available on the Play Store, but some of these are the best games you can play on Android. I don’t expect we’ll ever see the full Play Store game library on Google Play Games for Windows, but we know now there will be some excellent games on full launch.
What strikes me as odd is Google has prioritized games that don’t belong outside of a mobile ecosystem. Most of the games on Google Play Games for PC are free-to-play titles with shady advertising and suspiciously high reviews. They’re the kind of games that have contributed to mobile gaming’s terrible reputation, which begs the question, why has Google pushed these front and center on a platform where they won’t prosper?
Mobile games get away with mediocre and repetitive gameplay as they are often seen as simply ways to waste time. But sitting down to play a PC game takes much more commitment than swiping on your phone. I can’t see why Google would push such garbage on its Windows platform, as right now it serves to just drive away potential users. This problem is compounded by a discoverability problem that makes finding a good game a matter of luck.
It’s impossible to filter out the junk
The only way to find good games is to scroll past the bad
When I went to see what the best games were on the Google Play Games for Windows app, I naturally headed to the search function and filtered by the highest-ranking games. This was my result:
While we all have different opinions on what makes a “good” game, I doubt I would be able to rally much support behind the premise that Jackpotland-Vegas Casino Slots is more worth your time than Plague Inc. or Alto’s Odyssey. The problem here is that Google lifts all the app data and reviews from the Play Store, which is unhelpful at best and misleading at worst.
Playing any of these games on PC is a substantially different experience than on mobile. If Google is trying to market its PC gaming platform for existing PC gamers, pushing games like Domino Dreams and Tile Family: Match Puzzle game front and center is likely to send them straight to the uninstall button.
Worst of all, I cannot figure out how to reliably find decent games. On the Play Store app, browsing with the Premium or Top Paid filters enabled is an effective way to find good games. But there’s nothing like that on Google Play Games for Windows. Filtering by “No ads” and “No in-app purchases” brings up a variety of educational games for kids, while “Optimised for PC” just brings up a slightly different selection of free-to-play junk. In case you’re wondering, the only game to fulfill all three filters (i.e. the equivalent of a decent Steam game) is Persona 5: The Phantom X, which brings up an error page when you select it.
I had to spend an absurdly long time picking out decent games for this list. It’s my job to put in the time to trawl through the Play Store’s junk, but there’s no way I could imagine myself or anyone else willing to do this in their free time.
The skeleton of a decent game library is here, but Google Play Games for PC has a long way to go
I’m still not exactly sure who Google Play Games for PC is for, but it’s clear that it has a long way to go. The bare bones of an adequate PC game launcher are here, but Google needs to cut out the mobile junk and implement a decent search function to avoid it heading straight into the heap of dead Google products at launch. If Google adds Balatro, I’ll be using it every day.
